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Stories like this give me hope as a bootstrapped founder. One year into building a thing (skillsapp.com), we have users but no hockey-stick on our charts. It ta

by idan 15y ago

Stories like this give me hope as a bootstrapped founder. One year into building a thing (skillsapp.com), we have users but no hockey-stick on our charts. It takes time to refine and refine some more. Pivots aren't always about solving the same issue a different way. It's unsexy, but sometimes it's a long learning slog until you hit on the right formula. Respect to them for having the fortitude and not giving up.

shafqat 15y ago
100% agree. It took us 2.5 years to get to product market fit. We raised a seed round and kept burn incredibly low for a long time while we figured things out. There were a couple of product adjustments along to way based on customer demand. It took us 2.5 years, to reach out first million of recurring sales. It'll take us less than 3 months now to double that. Patience certainly is a virtue.
dwynings 15y ago
Hey Idan, I think you have a great product (trust me, I don't say that often)! It sounds like your biggest problem is distribution/marketing – I'd never heard of Skills before your comment and I've been looking for recruiting software. Perhaps you could do some deal with a job board where companies can choose to have applicants apply through you. Also, it'd be nice if applicants could list their HN profile as well. Good luck!
zxcvb 15y ago
Your startup scares me. I don't have much viewable to the public therefore you would rank me pretty low without actually realising that I might be an amazing programmer who has just spent all of his time being amazing rather than being part of the scene. I hope your software is never taken seriously.
- zxcvb 15y ago
  I don't understand why this was down voted? Surely I make a good point? I'm sure there is a lot of amazing talent that don't spend any time at all working on stuff that other people will ever get to see beyond the domain of what they are working on? Sorry I don't have a github account or a blog but I was too busy making sure Google search actually works.

by idan 15y ago

shafqat 15y ago

100% agree. It took us 2.5 years to get to product market fit. We raised a seed round and kept burn incredibly low for a long time while we figured things out. There were a couple of product adjustments along to way based on customer demand. It took us 2.5 years, to reach out first million of recurring sales. It'll take us less than 3 months now to double that. Patience certainly is a virtue.

dwynings 15y ago

Hey Idan, I think you have a great product (trust me, I don't say that often)! It sounds like your biggest problem is distribution/marketing – I'd never heard of Skills before your comment and I've been looking for recruiting software. Perhaps you could do some deal with a job board where companies can choose to have applicants apply through you. Also, it'd be nice if applicants could list their HN profile as well. Good luck!

zxcvb 15y ago

Your startup scares me. I don't have much viewable to the public therefore you would rank me pretty low without actually realising that I might be an amazing programmer who has just spent all of his time being amazing rather than being part of the scene. I hope your software is never taken seriously.

zxcvb 15y ago
I don't understand why this was down voted? Surely I make a good point? I'm sure there is a lot of amazing talent that don't spend any time at all working on stuff that other people will ever get to see beyond the domain of what they are working on? Sorry I don't have a github account or a blog but I was too busy making sure Google search actually works.